The Hermès Kelly: Robert Dumas's 1930s Sac à dépêches from the Haut à courroies, Grace Kelly's 1956 photograph in Life, the 1977 renaming, 36 pieces and 680 stitches
A Kelly takes a single craftsman around eighteen to twenty hours, in linen-thread saddle stitch. Hermès (@hermes)' own account says that when Robert Dumas created the ladies' bag with straps, the house entered the era of boldness and modernism.
Hermès shows Spring 2027 in Paris on 3 October. Photos: Herry Lawford, CC BY 2.0; ABC Television, 1956, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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The post, as it ran
01THE HERMÈS KELLY IS OLDER THAN ITS NAME. ROBERT DUMAS, SON-IN-LAW OF ÉMILE HERMÈS, MADE IT IN THE 1930S AS THE SAC À DÉPÊCHES.
02A KELLY IN RED CROCODILE. THE BAG DESCENDS FROM THE HAUT À COURROIES, MADE TO CARRY A RIDER'S BOOTS AND SADDLE.
03GRACE KELLY, 1956. THAT YEAR, PREGNANT WITH PRINCESS CAROLINE, SHE WAS PHOTOGRAPHED HOLDING THE BAG IN FRONT OF HER STOMACH.
04THE PICTURE RAN IN LIFE MAGAZINE. HERMÈS ADOPTED THE NAME OFFICIALLY ONLY IN 1977.
05EACH KELLY IS 36 PIECES OF LEATHER AND 680 STITCHES, SEWN BY A SINGLE ARTISAN.
06IN NOVEMBER 2021 A HIMALAYA CROCODILE KELLY 28 WITH DIAMOND HARDWARE SOLD AT CHRISTIE'S IN HONG KONG FOR 4 MILLION HONG KONG DOLLARS.